Veszprem remain on top, as Andersson tames PSG

After only three rounds of the VELUX EHF Champions League group phase, Telekom Veszprem are the only unbeaten side in this “group of death”. The Hungarian record champions won at Brest to remain with a clean record of six points, while previously unbeaten side Paris Saint-Germain lost at Flensburg. Below this top trio, all teams are on two points, after Celje sensationally beat 2016 Champions League winners Kielce on Saturday night.

Dani Dujshebaev won the family duel with Celje against his father Talant and his brother Alex (Kielce).

Meshkov Brest (BLR) vs Telekom Veszprem HC (HUN) 26:29 (12:14)

Veszprem kept their unbeaten record, winning their third group match and conquering the arena in Brest in the first ever Champions League duel between these both sides. The hosts were on an equal level for nearly 60 minutes, but finally were defeated for the second straight time after losing to Paris Saint-Germain 28:32.

The whole match - a rematch of the 2015 SEHA-Liga final which was won by the Hungarian side - was a fierce and close battle. After taking and then conceding an early lead it took until minute 28 before Veszprem went ahead again.

For most of the first half Meshkov were the stronger side, being more efficient in attack. The goalkeeper duel between Croat Ivan Pesic (Brest) and Roland Mikler (Veszprem) was fairly equal, but finally the visitors took a two-goal advantage to the dressing rooms.

After the break, Meshkov improved in defence, and Pesic stood stronger, providing his side with confidence. When former Flensburg shooter Pertar Djordjic netted in for the 19:18 advance for Brest, the arena went crazy.

Veszprem were shaken, but did not fall. Thanks to Mikler and strikes by Dragan Gajic, Blaz Blagotinsek and Momir Ilic, they turned the tide again to get ahead by three goals (26:23). Again Djordjic kept the hosts' hopes alive, netting in for 26:27, before a double strike by young Macedonian Dejan Manaskov and old Hungarian Laszlo Nagy sealed the deal for Veszprem.

Cool heads

Veszprem coach Ljubomir Vranjes said he was satisfied with the result.

"I want to emphasise, I am proud of my team," he said. "They fought until the final siren. Naturally they made mistakes that are inevitable in matches with a team like Meshkov Brest. However, in the end we kept our heads cooler and due to this we won."

Meshkov head coach Sergey Bebeshko said the match would be a learning experience for his young players, and congratulated Veszprem on the win.

In the duel of Kentin Mahe against six of his French teammates, with whom he became World Champion in January, Nikola Karabatic & Co. were defeated for the first time in this VELUX EHF Champions League season. After wins at Kiel and against Brest, PSG lost at Flensburg, as they did two years ago.

“It was an incredibly great match, it is really fun to win a match against Paris like this. Our goalkeeper Mattias Andersson saved in an extra-ordinary way,” said Mahe.

The ehfTV.com MATCH OF THE WEEK was a true world-class encounter. Rasmus Lauge Schmidt’s 11 goals and 17 saves by Mattias Andersson were key, while even nine goals by Uwe Gensheimer were not enough for the French champions.

“We caused too many mistakes in attack, and Flensburg played extremely well. It was quite easy to defend against us today,” Gensheimer said.

The first half was dominated by the two oldest players on court, the goalkeepers Thierry Omeyer (Paris, with 10 saves before the break) and Andersson (Flensburg, saving eight). First it was the Swede who was the key for the 9:6 advance of the hosts, then the Frenchman and four-time Champions League winner took control of the game. Thanks to five straight saves, Paris managed to score five straight goals - and had turned the match around to 11:9.

SFG coach Machulla took his time-out and changed the line-up. Holger Glandorf, who scored nine goals in total, was the key to bringing Flensburg within a goal of their opponents at the break (13:14) by scoring twice and taking a penalty shot.

Andersson on fire

The second half started exactly like the first one: Andersson was on fire, Paris were paralysed - and Flensburg again took the upper hand. Mainly the left-handed stars Glandorf and Lasse Svan took the responsibility now, again turning the match around. The FLENS Arena went crazy after a 7:1 un by the hosts in the first eight minutes after the break was completed for a 20:15 advantage.

Andersson truly shocked Norwegian top talent Sander Sagosen, when he did not only save his back court hammers, but caught them with both hands. On PSG’s side it was only German left wing Gensheimer who managed to score.

“We played with highest confidence, I was on pure adrenaline and I was supported by our defence. Therefore, it was easy to play like this,” ‘Magic Mattias’ Andersson said.

Coach Maik Machulla added: “After we gave the match in Veszprem from our hands in the final minutes, we rotated a lot before the break - exactly to put the pedal to the metal, when it counted.”

With five minutes left, Rasmus Lauge netted in his fifth of five penalties to keep the distance on five goals - and in contrast to their last Champions league match at Veszprem, where they gave a clear lead from their hands in the end, now Flensburg made it.

RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) vs PGE Vive Kielce (POL) 31:27 (16:12)

Two weeks ago they kept up with Veszprém for 45 minutes. This time RK Celje stood strong for 60 minutes against Kielce to cause the upset they had hoped for.

In the homecoming match of Blaz Janc, who changed sides this summer, and the family duel of the Dujshebaevs, the hosts sensationally were victorious.

"We made an almost perfect tactic preparation and on court we brought that to life," Celje coach Branko Tamse said. "We had some troubles with injuries but our performance has to be based on team play, like today. We know that this kind of thing can not happen every week, but with training every day we can surprise someone else, too."

Celje were constantly ahead of the 2016 VELUX EHF Champions League winners, who did not find their regular pace against a strongly defending home team. Kielce remain on zero away points, one week after they demolished Kiel on home ground (32:21).

Dani Dujshebaev won the duel against Alex by 5:4 goals. Gal Marguc, Celje’s best scorer, won the right wing duel against his former teammate Janc even clearer by 7:2 goals. Also, Celje’s goalkeepers were much stronger than the Kielce duo Szmal/Ivic.

Celje had an important 9:6 series to go from 6:6 to 15:9, and they nearly maintained this gap until the break.

Then Kielce had their strongest period, reducing the margin to only one goal at 21:20. Celje were shaken, but did not fall. On the contrary, they had a 4:0 series to increase the gap again to 25:20.

Kielce got closer to 28:26 in a two-man advantage but again Celje stroke back. When Serb Luka Mitrovic netted for 30:26 with 80 seconds left, they knew they would keep the two points in Slovenia.

"They played better than us and at the beginning their goalkeeper was amazing which gave Celje a boost," Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev said. "We were not able to get in front of them. It was a well-deserved win for them."